Infant Communion

[gurneyhalleck1]

I think the Eastern Orthodox have it right. Baptize and chrismate immediately. Why give a human being the armament to fight God in piddly stages? Why steadily arm him/her? The Orthodox hand the soldier then entire armory day one to fight Old Nick. I like that.

Intellectual digestion of a sacrament isn't needed; that is receptionism and it sounds like the type of Cranmerian thinking that bugs me to no end.

Watching little tykes and kids taking communion is awesome; I've been visiting an Eastern Orthodox temple the past two weeks. Watching those kids go up for communion before the adults and take the Body and Blood of Christ then their antidiron afterward coming back, it's good stuff....

I do wish, though, that the Bishop did more of these chrismations and not just the local pastor...

 

[MKJ]

I think the Eastern Orthodox have it right. Baptize and chrismate immediately. Why give a human being the armament to fight God in piddly stages? Why steadily arm him/her? The Orthodox hand the soldier then entire armory day one to fight Old Nick. I like that.

Intellectual digestion of a sacrament isn't needed; that is receptionism and it sounds like the type of Cranmerian thinking that bugs me to no end.

Watching little tykes and kids taking communion is awesome; I've been visiting an Eastern Orthodox temple the past two weeks. Watching those kids go up for communion before the adults and take the Body and Blood of Christ then their antidiron afterward coming back, it's good stuff....

I do wish, though, that the Bishop did more of these chrismations and not just the local pastor...

I think they are a bit short of bishops in America are they not? If so, it makes it kind of hard to accomplish.

 

[MKJ]

For those who are being received into the Church, they would have already received Chrismation or a recognized equivalent (in case the Roman Catholic Church doesn't, for some reason, also work to reunite the Initiation Rite, though I doubt they wouldn't).

IRC the Pope has fairly recently said there is no intention to reunite them in the Latin rite - the EC churches of course do already.

 

[Albion]

I think the Eastern Orthodox have it right. Baptize and chrismate immediately. Why give a human being the armament to fight God in piddly stages? Why steadily arm him/her? The Orthodox hand the soldier then entire armory day one to fight Old Nick. I like that.

Isn't that a fallacy of Medieval thinking--we have grace, we lose grace and are outcast, but we get some back through this or that ritual, then we might also lose some of it gradually (?), but we need to remedy that, etc.? There is no reason to think that whatever Baptism accomplishes is negated without a booster shot.

Watching little tykes and kids taking communion is awesome; I've been visiting an Eastern Orthodox temple the past two weeks. Watching those kids go up for communion before the adults and take the Body and Blood of Christ then their antidiron afterward coming back, it's good stuff....

I've visited a church where they are communed before baptism. Same precious sight. Not exactly great theology, tho.

 

[Mary of Bethany]

In Orthodoxy, Chrismation is the seal of the Holy Spirit. That is why it is given immediately after baptism, and before receiving the Holy Mysteries.

Please remind me, as I have forgotten, but what is the purpose of Confirmation? I don't remember that it was associated with receiving the Holy Spirit.

Mary

 

[PaladinValer]

In Orthodoxy, Chrismation is the seal of the Holy Spirit. That is why it is given immediately after baptism, and before receiving the Holy Mysteries.

Please remind me, as I have forgotten, but what is the purpose of Confirmation? I don't remember that it was associated with receiving the Holy Spirit.

Mary

You must remember that, in the West, the "two halves" of the Initiation Rite into the Church and the Christian faith drifted apart slowly.

In recent decades, Anglicanism is moving towards reuniting them, or at least the Anglican Communion is. I believe some of the Continuing churches are doing the same.

Holy Confirmation is an episcopal service, where the bishop lays his or her hands on the one to be confirmed, blessing them and petitioning that God increase and strengthen their faith in Him. It is also a mature declaration of Baptismal Vows, especially if the individual was too young or otherwise immature to be able to make them by him- or herself.

Currently in most parishes of The Episcopal Church, my province within the Anglican Communion, those receiving Holy Baptism also receive Holy Chrismation; chrism consecrated by the bishop of the diocese on Maundy Thursday. In the Rite, the chrism is applied on the forehead in the manner of a Greek cross, and the priest (and only a priest or bishop; deacons may not do this) recites that it seals the individual's baptism and marking the individual as Christ's own for ever. Other provinces or Anglican tradition churches who do practice chrism at Holy Baptism have similar rites.

 

[MKJ]

You must remember that, in the West, the "two halves" of the Initiation Rite into the Church and the Christian faith drifted apart slowly.

In recent decades, Anglicanism is moving towards reuniting them, or at least the Anglican Communion is. I believe some of the Continuing churches are doing the same.

Holy Confirmation is an episcopal service, where the bishop lays his or her hands on the one to be confirmed, blessing them and petitioning that God increase and strengthen their faith in Him. It is also a mature declaration of Baptismal Vows, especially if the individual was too young or otherwise immature to be able to make them by him- or herself.

Currently in most parishes of The Episcopal Church, my province within the Anglican Communion, those receiving Holy Baptism also receive Holy Chrismation; chrism consecrated by the bishop of the diocese on Maundy Thursday. In the Rite, the chrism is applied on the forehead in the manner of a Greek cross, and the priest (and only a priest or bishop; deacons may not do this) recites that it seals the individual's baptism and marking the individual as Christ's own for ever. Other provinces or Anglican tradition churches who do practice chrism at Holy Baptism have similar rites.

This is not common everywhere - I have never seen or heard of it in Canada, though there is an increasing tendency to communicate infants.

In fact in my diocese the last bishop had a policy of not confirming anyone under 15 - I'm not sure if the one we have now follows the same rule.

 

[MKJ]

In Orthodoxy, Chrismation is the seal of the Holy Spirit. That is why it is given immediately after baptism, and before receiving the Holy Mysteries.

Please remind me, as I have forgotten, but what is the purpose of Confirmation? I don't remember that it was associated with receiving the Holy Spirit.

Mary

Yes, it is associated with receiving the Holy Spirit. It is the "same" as chrismation on a Sacramental level, but it remained in the hands of the Bishop for the most part - though I believe in the Catholic Church priests are authorized to confirm (with chrism I think) in the case of a child or infant in danger of death. But bishops are typically not present for every baptism in a diocese, so as long as there is a tradition of confirmation through laying on of hands it is difficult to do baptism at the same time.

It is often associated with the idea of putting on the armour of God..

 

[LuxMundi]

The question of Infant Communion came up today in a sermon and I thought I should really find out more about this.

I fully support paedocommunion.